O happy day!

Well, it's a historic day here in the United States of America. I watched the inauguration of President Obama, as did millions of others. But as a fellow candidate for President last year, I could not help but feel wistful. IT SHOULDA BEEN ME!

I mean, how cool would it have been to have a talking severed head and a brain in a jar sworn in as President and Vice-President? Even if I weren't sober during the swearing-in, I couldn't have messed up the oath of office more than the President and Chief Justice did. And think of the potential for fun if I was given the oath: "Raise your right eyebrow and repeat after me...".

And how many of the others candidates would have entertained the gathered crowd with his impersonation of Dudley Moore from Arthur? Not damn many, I bet. Okay, only me! ONLY I WOULD HAVE DARED TO GO THERE! And isn't boldness what America needs now?

I coulda beena contenda!

Excuse me, I need to go cry in my beer now...

SEE CASA CABEZA!

Yes, you can take a text-and-photo tour of my new house (that I spent a snowy New Year's Eve moving into) by clicking on the link below, which takes you to a page at the Universal Monster Army site (I help moderate there.) The tour begins after the first couple of postings, and then begins again on the following page of the thread:

Finally settling into Casa Cabeza

Stale weird news!

Or, "Not new news!"

I sometimes bookmark weird news items to share here, then forget them. (And why not? I drink to forget!) Anyway, here are news items that may be up to sixty days old! But you probably haven't seen them ALL (he said, defensively.)

Creative child discipline!

A 123 year-old living organ!

Top 10 maddest scientists!

A zombie illustrated man!

A man makes the Venus de Milo jealous!

Next best thing to brain transplants!

World's wildest "before and after!"

A snowy day in a nearby graveyard

Got a hankerin' for gloomy photographs of a cemetery in winter? No? Well, take a look at the boneyard pictures below, anyway--with the dark sky, and lonely white expanses of the place, they're like views of a weird, other world of the dead. (Or maybe undead!)

Jane and I have been in our new house for just over a week, and and it is cold and snowy here. We live on top of a hilly ridge called Spring Hill, and on a hilltop a few blocks away is an old cemetery. A few weeks before we moved in, I snapped the photos below to share here. (Click on any photo for a larger view.)

I've always felt not enough horror movies take advantage of the eeriness of lonely, snowy settings. And as folks who like cemeteries, Jane and I were happy to find this steep hillside graveyard near our new home.

Not seen in the photos are the scores of ravens that live in this area. They were many at the cemetery when we visited, but they would fly away when you got within 20 to 30 yards; so only a few show up in the pictures.

A picnic at this site, when the weather is warmer, will be in order. A great place to munch sandwiches while reading Poe and poetry!













The final, fitting photo of the day: an angel left behind among the stones:

Oh, to be rid of winter clothes!

Buried as I am under a woolen cap to keep me warm, I dream of being as warm as model Bettie Page appears to be in the "nature study" photo at this link:

http://quixotando.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/morreu-bettie-page-1923-2008/

If the photo does not appear immediately, click on the name "Bettie Page" and you'll see Bettie in all her glory!

Recent weird news: Snowman of death!

Snowmen globes as burning death-ray weapons:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some 7,000 jumbo-sized snow globes were recalled by Hallmark Cards Inc. because the holiday decorations can act as a magnifying glass when exposed to sunlight and ignite nearby combustible materials, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Tuesday.

The snowman-shaped snow globes were sold in October and November at Hallmark Gold Crown stores nationwide for about $100 each. [At that price, customers must have had their money burning a hole in their pockets.]

The consumer agency said Hallmark has received two reports of the snow globes igniting nearby materials but no injuries have been reported.

Consumers who bought the snow globes, which measure 11 by 12 by 17 inches (28 by 30 by 43cm), should immediately remove them from exposure to sunlight and return to a Hallmark Gold Crown store for a full refund.

Details about the recall were posted at the government agency's web site at: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09073.html

(Reporting by Julie Vorman; Editing by Bill Trott)